With the State Government announcing an extension to the regional NSW lockdown until September 10, Western NSW Local Health District chief executive Scott McLachlan has said he would like to see case numbers drop below 20 in a 'weeks time at best'.
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"I'd love to be in that place in around a weeks time," he said.
"We know that with the current cases and the number of people in isolation, we will continue to see around the same numbers we have been seeing. I expect we will continue to see those numbers for a week or 10 days.
"With hopefully a growing number of cases in isolation, that is the secret number we need to look at. As well as decreasing the number of people in community."
The extension to the lockdown was announced on Wednesday morning, when a record number of cases was also highlighted.
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Up until 8pm Wednesday, 35 new cases were recorded for the Western health district, with 1029 cases in NSW.
Member for the Dubbo electorate Dugald Saunders said the extension of the lockdown meant there is a plan in place.
"There's definitely a plan and there's a fairly strategic plan on what it will mean for our region," he said.
"It's two pronged, one is staying at home and getting numbers to stabilise first of all and start to drop. The other is vaccination rate and that's why there is such an emphasis we are putting everyday on getting to those vaccination clinics."
Mr Saunders believes a plan for case numbers to get to zero in the area would be unlikely after the extended lockdown.
"As far as a way out, it is getting our numbers the right way," he said.
"I don't think there is a plan to get to zero anywhere, that seems fairly unreachable."
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro told media on Thursday the lockdown could extend past two weeks.
"For me, Dubbo and the Central West there, Western NSW, I know we just talked about a two-week lockdown, but there's no way in the world they will be coming out in two weeks or four weeks," he said.
"I think Dubbo and that area is probably aligned with Sydney in a sense in relation to when we get to 70 per cent double dose and 80 per cent double dose and that's the truth of it because these numbers aren't budging and that's a tough situation to be in."
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